Staff from one of London’s biggest department stores have pledged to help London schoolchildren who struggle to read.

A dozen workers at the John Lewis store in Oxford Street have joined the Evening Standard’s Get London Reading campaign. They have been given permission to spend part of their working day volunteering in local primary schools as reading mentors, trained by our partner charity Beanstalk.

They will go into All Souls C of E School in Foyley Street and Christ-church in Redhill Street every week and read aloud with three pupils each.

The store also asked customers to get involved with the campaign, which has raised more than £1 million to train volunteers as reading mentors.

Simon Fowler, managing director at John Lewis Oxford Street, said: “We take our role as an active member of the community seriously and we are delighted to embrace the Get London Reading campaign together with Beanstalk. Partner volunteering is a key part of our community strategy, which is focused on enhancing skills to create lasting change. Supporting literacy is a great way of delivering this aim.”

Volunteer Susan Brooks, who works in stock management at John Lewis, said: “Supporting children with reading development is a fantastic opportunity — it’s great to be able to give something back to the local community where I work. Spending time with three pupils during the course of a full academic year means I’ll be able to see how they progress over time which will be so rewarding.”

Steve Hawe, director of fundraising and communications at Beanstalk, said: “It is a shocking and sad fact that one in eight children are leaving primary school without reaching the required reading level, which is why the support Beanstalk provides is so valuable, to intervene before illiteracy may lead to truancy, social exclusion and possibly crime.”